The Gift
of God
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15)
What is God’s indescribable gift?
Prophecies of God’s
Indescribable Gift
In the Old Testament there are several prophecies concerning
God’s indescribable gift. Two of these
prophecies are written by the prophet Isaiah.
“For unto us a Child is
born, unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6)
This prophecy states the
Son of God has the names of “Mighty God, Everlasting Father”.
“Therefore the Lord
Himself will give you a sign: Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name
Immanuel.” (Isa.
7:14)
Here is a prophecy the
Son of God is to be born of virgin. The
name “Immanuel” means “God with us”
(Mt.
Fulfillment
of God’s Indescribable
Gift
Joseph was greatly concerned when he learned that his
fiancée Mary was pregnant.
“But while he thought
about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall
call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:20-21)
God assured Joseph the
child inside Mary’s womb would be the Savior who is God’s indescribable Gift to
mankind.
God’s indescribable Gift is
manifesting
Himself in the
flesh to become
His Son
“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (Jn. 1:1-2)
“And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14)
God’s indescribable Gift
is a Mystery
“And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16)
God’s love and
Gift to the
World
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
(Jn. 3:16)
“But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Rom.
5:8)
The Gift of
God is perfect
“Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (Jas. 1:17)
The Lord Jesus Christ is
perfect. “For He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
The Sacrifice of
Jesus is perfect
“For by one offering He
has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to
us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, says the LORD: I
will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.’ then He adds, ‘Their
sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is remission of these, there
is no longer an offering of sin.” (Heb. 10:14-18)
Salvation
is a
Free Gift
“For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
(Eph. 1:8-9)
“So they said, ‘Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
is only the first step of salvation, and there are other steps to follow.
Three
Important Steps
of Salvation
“Then Peter said to them,
‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your
children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
[1] Repentance [2] Baptism
of Water [3] Baptism of the Holy Spirit
“But when the kindness and the love
of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Tit. 3:4-6)
“Washing of regeneration” corresponds to water baptism
“in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” “Renewing of the Spirit”
corresponds to receiving “the gift of the Holy
Spirit”.
“Jesus answered, ‘Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Holy Spirit, he
cannot enter the
Pray to receive the
Gift of the
Holy Spirit
The Lord Jesus Christ said we must
pray to receive the Holy Spirit.
“If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” (Lk. 11:13)
“Jesus answered and said
to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a
drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (Jn. 4:10)
God’s Gifts to
the Church
•
Eternal Life -
“Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life.” (Jn.
3:15)
•
His Blood
- The
•
His Spirit
- “If therefore God
gave them the same gift as He gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts
•
Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.
12:4-10)
•
The Sabbath Rest -
The Lord Jesus Christ said, “The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27)
•
Five-fold Ministries -
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for
the work of the ministery, for the edifying of the
body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:11-12)
God’s Gifts must
be accepted
Receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior. “But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name.” (Jn. 1:12)
“He who believes in Him
is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he
has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jn.
3:18)
God’s Gift of
Eternal Life is in
His Son Jesus
Christ
“And this is the
testimony: that God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He
who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have
life. These things I have written to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of
God.” (1 Jn.
5:11-13)
May God bless you
A sermon based on this article was preached by Paul Wong
to a
Congregation in
For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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